PARIS (Reuters) – Societe Generale announced on Tuesday that its chief executive Frédéric Oudéa, in office since 2008, would not seek the renewal of his mandate in May 2023.
The French banking group said in a press release that a selection process for a new managing director had been decided on by 2023.
“During the general meeting of May 17, 2022, Frédéric Oudéa, Chief Executive Officer since 2008, announced that he will not seek the renewal of his term of office as director and Chief Executive Officer in May 2023”, declares Société General.
“The board of directors took note of this decision and renewed its confidence in Frédéric Oudéa to lead the group until this deadline.”
A graduate of the École polytechnique and the École nationale d’administration (ENA), Frédéric Oudéa joined Société Générale in 1995 after holding various positions in public administration.
He became financial director of the bank in January 2003 and took over as general manager in 2008 in the midst of a storm caused by the Kerviel affair, which cost the bank a loss of 4.9 billion euros.
He was then Chairman and Chief Executive Officer until 2015, then again solely Chief Executive Officer after the dissociation of this function from that of Chairman of the Board of Directors.
In recent years, he has reorganized the group’s activities to strengthen its solvency and profitability, by selling activities in Central and Eastern Europe and by restructuring corporate and investment banking.
The bank recently decided to merge its two retail banking networks in France and to sell its assets in Russia, including Rosbank, after the outbreak of the Russian military offensive in Ukraine in February.
“I told the board (of directors-Editor’s note) that I would not be a candidate for the renewal of my mandate in 2023. It is a decision taken with humility, a lot of emotions but also a lot of personal serenity”, a declared Frédéric Oudéa to the shareholders.
Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, chairman of the board, added that the directors had decided to launch a selection procedure to appoint a successor as director and general manager.
“The Board of Directors intends to do everything possible to ensure that this transition is fully successful”, said Lorenzo Bini Smaghi.
(Report Matthieu Portard, edited by Sophie Louet and Bertrand Boucey)